The 15th annual event had a record 275 cars and a crowd of about 18,000.

JON M. FLETCHER/The Times-UnionAn all-wood 1936 Rolls Royce Wrait is fully equipped with wine and picnic gear in the auto's rear at the 15th annual Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance. There were a record 275 cars at the show, and a crowd of about 18,000 people showed up.

JON M. FLETCHER/The Times-UnionParticipants in a car fashion show roll into the judging arena in an egg-shaped Fascination Prototype at the 15th annual Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance in Amelia Island on Sunday.

JON M. FLETCHER/The Times-UnionA model tips her sunglasses to fit the era of a 300SL Gullwing Mercedes during a car fashion show. The Concours has raised about $1.6 million for Community Hospice of Northeast Florida.

Jonathan Feiber's 1960 Maserati Birdcage racer snarled more as it revved up to collect Best of Show in the racing class on the golf greens outside the Ritz-Carlton, Amelia Island. The man who raced it to a win in the last Cuban Grand Prix in 1960 was supposed to join it, but a fall prevented Sir Stirling Moss from coming in from England.

"The most important thing is he is healthy and he will get better," said Feiber of Moss. "It is completely exciting to be here. This is our first time, and the event is terrific."

Sunday's concours was the 15th iteration of founder and co-chairman Bill Warner's classic car event that saw about 2,000 visitors the first year and blossomed to an estimated 18,000 Sunday. This year, Richard Petty, who won 200 stock car races, was there in trademark cowboy hat as honoree. So were nine of his former stock cars, plus 275 European and American classics and race cars for a record crowd.

"Be careful what you wish for because you may get it. The crowd was huge," Warner said. "Richard is one of the most warm personalities you would ever want to meet, and he truly is a king."

One of this year's star cars may have been the sensuously curved 1949 Norman Timbs Special, which gathered crowds from the second the gates opened at 9:30 a.m. Nearby, owner John Judge North let some visitors sit in his gorgeous Peruvian walnut-bodied 1938 Rolls-Royce, including Fernandina Beach resident Susan Taylor.

"The show is one of the highlights of my life," she said. "I think the owner said we showed such enthusiasm [for his car] that he wanted to share it with us. That is another thing I really appreciate - the generosity of the owners."

One other person appreciative of owners and event sponsors was Eduardo Mesejo, director of Cuba's Depository of Automobiles. He was granted rare permission to come to Amelia to help judge a class of cars that raced the Cuban Grand Prix in the 1950s.

"This is really one of the best in the world but not just for the cars. The people are better than the cars," Mesejo said. "This was the candy store for me, and the best man is the leader of the candy store, Bill Warner."

The collection entranced experts too.

"It gets better every year," said designer Pete Brock, who numbers the '63 Corvette among his work. "People never fail to see cars at this show that they will never see any place else."

"The quality is absolutely phenomenal. This is one of the greatest gatherings of cars across the board than you will see anywhere else," added McKeel Hagerty, a car collector whose company insures classics. "How cool are interesting classes like race cars of Cuba, forgotten fiberglass?"

The Amelia show has raised an estimated $1.6 million for Community Hospice of Northeast Florida, plus more for others like the local Spina Bifida Association.

Awesome cars and lots of money, these are the first words to describe these racing events. Anyone would be thrilled and excited to be around the top cars, they are fine art indeed, that's why you always see them owned by rich collectioners.
Karol, auto dealerships Chicago

I was out there yesterday and believe me I am far from the "elite"...It was wonderful day and a great chance to see automobiles of all types that you may never get to see otherwise. And there were people of all races and economic status there. I think I ended up taking over 200 pictures during the day...So Cheri be a good lil troll and crawl back into your cave and take your envy or bitterness elsewhere.